TSR Q&A with Gary Gygax

Col_Pladoh · Feb 24, 2005

BOZ said:
amen to that! we have a guy who loves to call out on the DM "but the rules say..." when the DM makes a decision... i just want to slap the guy. the rest of us usually have to talk him out of arguing it, while he grumbles and mumbles and flips through the rulebooks to try to prove his point, and then if he finds what he was looking for he brings it back up again several minutes after we have moved on, and if he doesn't find it he says something like "but you've let me do that before"

...oy. i'm kinda glad he hasn't shown up in a month or so.

Shudder!

That calls to mind the incident that occurred when I was giving a seminar on AD&D to a large audience of dedicated players at a GenCon. Someone asked me howI'd handle a specific situation, and I responded. One fellow in the crowd objected, "but that isn't what the DMG says..."

To that I respnded to this effect: "I don't care what the book says. I wrote it, and I am not infalable. In the case just before us the material in the DMG is wrong--as it is anytime the DM over-rules it."

Heh,
Gary

Col_Pladoh · Feb 24, 2005

TerraDave said:
Esteemed Col. your answer makes perfect sense. Maybe I should rephrase the question: why the long delay before your dieties where shared with the rest of the world? And, did you use "real world" divinities in your original Castle Greyhawk campaign, in addition to Saint Cuthbert of course

Okay

That answer is easy. The development of anything akin to a logical pantheon of deities for the world setting took a considerable period of time to complete because we seldom dealt with such entities in play. St. Cuthbert and Pholtus were amusing to the players with cleric PCs so I spent time detailing them. The balance then followed as I brought into play evil deities to serve as villians and to frustrate the aims of the PCs. Only after I had completed the last of the core rules books for AD&D was there time for me to address growing audience interest in the World of Greyhawk and its deities. When the version of that setting was ready for publication, the need for a more detailed pantheon of deities was apparent, so that's when the details were set down. That made Len Lakofka happy too, for I brought in the deities he had been using for his campaign

Cheers.
Gary

Col_Pladoh · Feb 24, 2005

Jdvn1 said:
Does that mean cartoon shows should start trying to find ways to incorporate roleplaying legends?

I'm there, dude!

I wonder if someone could pull off a more adult roleplaying cartoon -- and not offend a lot of people.

As there "adult" cartoons done in Japan, and those shows have not penetrated the "US market, I'd say there's not much chance for that to fly.

Cheers.
Gary

Ferox4 · Feb 24, 2005

Good morning, Gary. I always wondered why there were such high ability scores needed to create a Druid, Ranger or Paladin back in OD&D. What was the thinking behind that?

Col_Pladoh said:
Shudder!

That calls to mind the incident that occurred when I was giving a seminar on AD&D to a large audience of dedicated players at a GenCon. Someone asked me howI'd handle a specific situation, and I responded. One fellow in the crowd objected, "but that isn't what the DMG says..."

To that I respnded to this effect: "I don't care what the book says. I wrote it, and I am not infalable. In the case just before us the material in the DMG is wrong--as it is anytime the DM over-rules it."

Heh,
Gary

Amen. All you Rules Lawyers hear that?

Col_Pladoh · Feb 24, 2005

oldschooler said:
Actually, what I was really thinking of was the products you use in certain situations, not so much the rules themselves.
For example:
When playing OD&D, do you stick with the original set with maybe the Greyhawk supplement (or all the supplements) or go with a later set (like Moldvay's Basic or the Rules Cyclopedia). Do you even acknowledge any difference in the various incarnations?

We are playing the three-booklet version of D&D now, and I don't use any supplements, just rules changes I have made to give greated viability to the beginning characters.

Or:
When you play AD&D, how much of say, Unearthed Arcana do you actually tend to use? Are the paladins in your games a subclass of fighters or cavaliers? That's the kind of stuff I've been wondering about in your old school gaming sessions

When we play AD&D i use all the core rules, including the material in the UA book, or not. If the group is really old school, then we do not use the UA changes. I can enjoy DMing either way, so the players decide what they prefer.

Cheers,
Gary

MrFilthyIke · Feb 24, 2005

Col_Pladoh said:
To that I respnded to this effect: "I don't care what the book says. I wrote it, and I am not infalable. In the case just before us the material in the DMG is wrong--as it is anytime the DM over-rules it."

Makes me think of that saturday night live skit with William Shatner at a con...

I'm sure you have numerous funny stories from cons.

Col_Pladoh · Feb 24, 2005

andargor said:
Just a quick note to say hi to Gary.

Will there be a Part MMCLII?

Andargor

From your lips to God's ear there will be!

I won't mind being around for another couple of decades

andargor · Feb 24, 2005

Ferox4 said:
Amen. All you Rules Lawyers hear that?

Loud and clear.

I'm our group's rule lawyer, and I'm there for the sake of consistency. I see myself as a resource for the DM, who would rather concentrate on the story but who'd like to follow the rules as much as possible. Occasionally, he changes things to fit a situation, and that's OK. I point it out, and he simply says "it works that way for now".

Andargor

Col_Pladoh · Feb 24, 2005

Ferox4 said:
Good morning, Gary. I always wondered why there were such high ability scores needed to create a Druid, Ranger or Paladin back in OD&D. What was the thinking behind that?

To assure that everybody and their pet monkeys too didn't create druid, paladin, and ranger PCs. Those are the sort of figures that are supposed to be few and far between. the same applies to the monk class, of curse.

Amen. All you Rules Lawyers hear that?

You aren't going to have much positive response from the audience for new D&D I fear :\

Cheers,
Gary

Ferox4 · Feb 24, 2005

Col_Pladoh said:
You aren't going to have much positive response from the audience for new D&D I fear :\

Cheers,
Gary

They can wag their tongues ad infinitum, it won't sway me from the fact that this game was designed to be played any way a group sees fit. There are no rules, there are only guidelines, and, moreover,

THE REFEREE IS THE FINAL ARBITER OF ALL AFFAIRS IN HIS OR HER CAMPAIGN.

Cheers, and many thanks for all the fun I've had playing this wonderful game.

TSR Q&A with Gary Gygax

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Gary Gygax

Col_Pladoh

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